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The Lautoka magistrates court in Fiji on Tuesday heard four complaints of police brutality in two separate criminal cases. The Fiji Times reports one of the cases involved two vocational students, aged 17 and 19, each charged with aggravated robbery and theft. Addressing the court, the 19-year-old claimed he was blindfolded, handcuffed and then repeatedly beaten with a rod while in police custody. The 17-year-old also claimed similar injuries.

New Caledonia's Nickel Fund has released almost $US500,000 in a one-off payment to repair flood damage in Houailou. The town on the main island's east coast was hit by unprecedented downpours in November when eight people perished in the floods. The Fund was set up to help the territory's nickel industry through difficult times. Last week, the Congress approved half a million US dollars to help the town's nickel sector.

Two prison escapees are fighting for their lives at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) following their capture at a remote village in east Malaita, Tuesday night. The duo scaled the high-security Auki Correctional Centre on New Year’s night in a daring escape that baffled authorities. But their freedom was short-lived after they were arrested at Sisikwae village in east Malaita.

The number of dengue virus cases has hiked to 359 as of the end of December 2016, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has reported. From this figure, 66 are confirmed cases while the rest are suspected to have the virus. A statement from the MoH informed that results of blood samples that were sent to New Zealand for further tests were received on December 9, 2016, and it revealed that two cases are confirmed to be tested positive with Dengue Serotype 2. There are 4 distinct, but closely related, serotypes of the virus that cause dengue (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4).

Speaker Benjamin Cruz on Wednesday introduced a bill meant to save taxpayers millions of dollars when it comes to selecting the government of Guam’s health insurance plan for employees and retirees. It would require the governor to choose the plan with the lowest cost for taxpayers, even if it means employees and retirees will not be able to choose from several different insurance providers. The bill, which Cruz reintroduced from last term, would require the government’s Health Insurance Negotiating Team to submit to Adelup only the most affordable health insurance proposal each fiscal year.

Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services Commissioner Clyde Norita says the CNMI has no 911 system. “All it is is 234-0911. That’s the number, and it has five to six lines, with one more line on Rota and another on Tinian,” said Norita during a media conference last week regarding the recent Susupe fire incident. Norita said there are problems when answering 911 calls due to the “rotary system.” Sometimes, he added, if people from Rota call 911 it gets answered on Saipan.

More than 500 people are homeless and many domestic animals and food gardens have been washed away by a huge flood in a remote village in the Eastern Highlands Province. It happened during the early hours of Tuesday night after continuous rain. The flood also swept away three people but two were found yesterday with one still missing.

The public prosecutor in New Caledonia has closed the investigation into last October's fatal shooting of a prison escapee William Decoire near Noumea. The probe upheld the initial findings that the 23-year-old man was shot by a police officer acting in legitimate self-defence. William Decoire was at the wheel of a stolen vehicle when he was stopped by police but was shot after trying to evade by running over an officer.

Cases of diarrhoea and conjunctivitis have increased in quake affected communities in Solomon Islands says the aid agency UNICEF. It said the increase is particularly noticeable in Makira Province which was closest to the epicentre of last month's 7.8 magnitude quake. The head of UNICEF Solomon Islands Yun Jong Kang said a health awareness campaign would be broadcast on national radio and health messages sent to mobile phones to try and address the increase in illnesses.

A jam in communication networks and the arrival time of the first wave activity during a tsunami, which is faster than the issuance of warnings, are issues Lands and Mineral Resources permanent secretary Malakai Finau says they need to work on. Mr Finau said official warnings after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred south of Fiji took a while as his office needed some time to conduct analysis and verification before it could issue an official alert. Mr Finau said people needed to understand that the earthquake was a local event and the arrival of the first wave activity could take five to 10 minutes, faster than the issuance of warnings.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.